The Belgian Flemish child protection system - Confidentiality voluntarism and coercion

Discusses how debates over the child protection system in the UK have been enlivened by comparative analysis of continental procedure. In particular, enthusiastic claims have been made about the approaches adopted in both France and Belgium. Both systems, so it is claimed, avoid the legalism and the punitive attitudes of the English and Welsh system, thus making child protection more effective for children and families and less antagonistic and demoralising for child care professionals. Describes a comparative pilot study of the role of judicial decision making in France, in the Flemish Community in Belgium, and in England